World Bank says Iran GNP is growing 3.1% this year

February 18, 2022

The World Bank says Iran’s economy is growing by a respectable 3.1 percent this Persian year, although that is down slightly from last year and although the World Bank predicted Iran’s growth rate would fall slightly more next year and fall further the following year.

The World Bank published its projection of Iran’s growth rate for the current Persian year at 3.1 percent the day after the governor of Iran’s Central Bank, Ali Saleh-Abadi, told the public the growth rate for the current Persian year would reach 8 percent.

The huge difference between the two announcements suggested either that Iranian statistical efforts are worse than anyone has imagined or that the Central Bank governor wants to pull the wool over the eyes of the Iranian public.

The World Bank analysis on growth throughout the world was published January 16 in its regular report, “Global Economic Prospects.”

Above are the World Bank’s latest growth estimates for Iran, the 17-nation region of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), the United States and globally.  Iran is on the low side compared to much of the world, but is on average for MENA, albeit only this year and last.